PURPOSE OF SCHOOLING 1

Purpose of Schooling in the United States

Kendra Gardner

Colorado State University

Meta-Reflection: Taking Education 275 has broadened my perspective on what schooling in the

U.S. consists of. I feel like the first trait you must acquire, as a teacher is compassion. Being

understanding of every one of your students and realize that each person has their own unique

story. The readings and discussions we had in this class really opened my eyes about how much

diversity there really is out there. I came from a mostly white school in a small town, and was

blind to what some students have to go through, even hearing about Peoples Bags. I think my

opinions on schooling in the United States havent change a lot, however I have become more

educated on diversity issues and how to address them appropriately.

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Purpose of Schooling

A persons entire life up until they reach adulthood, and sometimes even afterwards is

spent in schools. Schools are what shape a persons life, its where they learn right from wrong,

social skills, and build friendships. They learn about all types of diversity, how people differ

from them and their familys traditions, and it not only educates them in subjects so they are

educated in reading, writing, math, and science, but it also prepares them for life outside of the

classroom, when they enter the real world. When I did my four hour observation for this class,

one of the teachers I shadowed, Audry Klingenmeier, stated her opinion saying, The primary

purpose of schooling in the U.S. is to help build our community and culture with knowledgeable

adultsstudents can be very blind to what the real world is like until the begin that process.

(Klingenmeier, 2015). In my pretest for this paper I wrote It [school] should allow students to

comprehend what has already been discovered, and give them to tools to discover the

unknown., which after taking this class I still agree with.

The education system and purpose of schooling is being redone in order to step away

from the past thirteen years of the No Child Left Behind Acts standards. Dating back to when

public schools were first introduced into our system, they were done so in the culture of the

enlightenment and in the economic circumstance of the industrial revolution(Robinson, 2010).

We have this mindset that students must all conform to one type of schooling, when in fact we

should conform the education system to fit them, to bring out their fullest potential. The No

Child Left Behind Act is a prime example of this. Not everyone learns in the same way nor

shows outstanding results from being tested by multiple choice, which we experienced this year

with Gardners Multiple Intelligences. We traditionally have believed that those we deem

intelligent are those who can demonstrate specific forms of knowledge quickly and easily and
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who can demonstrate that ability when given a standardized test. However educators who see

these children on a daily basis see that intelligence encompasses qualities that include the ability

to process knowledge in different kinds of way, to reason and think in the abstract, and to solve

problems. Some examples of seven multiple intelligences in which students are better at some

than others are linguistic, logical, musical, and bodily kinesthetic (Huerta, 2009). There have

been many advocates for who have pushed these multiple intelligences, to steer away form No

Child Left Behind, so more students can pursue the purpose of schooling. President Obama

recently signed the Every Student Succeeds Act, which will require students to continue to take

the statewide math and reading exams. However it will allow teachers to not spend as much time

of their lessons focusing on the standards, and allowing them to use more creativity (End of

Common Core, 2015). The idea is to let teachers have more flexibility with their classes, and let

them mold the curriculum more to the students rather than vice versa.

My role as a teacher

As a future educator, one of the most important jobs that I will need to obtain is to find a

way to relate to all of my students and incorporate those connections into my curriculum. A

student-centered teacher can promote student learning regardless of his or her background and

skill level (Huerta, 2009). Meaning that our students are more inclined to learn and engage in

the class if they can they have a connection to the curriculum to get excited about. Creating a

loving and welcoming environment does this because, the mind [of a child] will not flourish

unless it is stimulated and guidedWhen guided to find constructive ways to expresses their

spiritual longings, you people can find purpose in life, do better in school (Kessler, 2000).

Connecting to math to students can seem impossible, but when taking a step back math

surrounds us. To get students more inclined to be interested, I will need to find creative and fun
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ways to connect my curriculum to activities they participate in or hobbies they may have. Some

of them can even be as simple as bringing sport percentages into the classroom from data theyve

seen or collected, cooking conversions, probability of drawing a certain card, and even items

they see everyday likes sales tax, and profession related problems that construction workers or

engineers may face.

Schooling continuing the existing order

When girls enter school, studies have shown that girls academic performances are equal

or better than boys, but by the time they leave high school they have fallen behind. The

socialization of gender within our schools assures that girls are made aware that they are unequal

to boys. (Chapman). As girls continue though their time in school, they face derogatory

comments and situations of sexism and gender bias. The company Always, put out a campaign

called #LikeAGirl. They had a wide range of middle and high school aged girls and elementary

through high school aged boys stand in front of a camera and asked them the questions, show

me what it looks like to run, throw, and fight like a girl. Without thinking twice, every

participant demonstrated all three actions in a sissy way. They then asked elementary aged girls

the same questions, in which they ran, threw, and fought as hard as they could (Always, 2014).

The term like a girl is used as an insult, which starts in school and lowers girls self esteem,

making them think that they are not as capable as boys. This idea of men being better than

women is even carried over in the work force. In 2014 a full time workingwoman made on

average 79% of what a man working the same full time job did (The Simple Truth). From an

early age starting in school we have it ingrained in our minds that men are more empowering and

qualified than women. This can be very difficult especially in science and math classes, many
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girls feel they are not smart enough to be in those type of classes, I know I struggled with that for

a long time. As an educator though, I would like to make girls in math feel more empowered.

Racism is still a problem that we deal with everyday in the classroom. Since the Cold

War, we have used what is called the colorblind education system; with the idea of by ignoring

race we will one day be able to forget about it. Americans will never be rid of race prejudice

until we are able to drop our group labels, which ignore all that really matters, and learn to judge

each person as he really is. (Because Race, 2007). Racism will never go away unless we stop

judging people based on the color of their skin and start getting to know them as a person.

Schooling transforming the existing order

Since the 1970s the salary gap between men and women have decreased, because so

many women have fought for it (The Simple Truth). In the Always commercial, a high school

aged girl, after hearing statistics on how the saying like a girl lowers self esteem responded by

saying It doesnt matter what they say, yes I kick like a girlbecause I am a girl and that is not

something I should be ashamed of, so Im gonna do it anyway. (Always, 2014). Racism still has

a long way to go, but it is still being fought for. In one of classes we talked about racism and

sexism in history and how history books used in schools tell one side of the story the

perspective of a white man. Dr. Basile even showed us pictures of womens roles in the Civil

War and how women were portrayed as the sewers of the flag, even though some fought in

battle. Another point made was about Christopher Columbus and how him coming and

discovering the Americas was a conquest, when in reality he slaughtered thousands of people.

Our textbooks are corrupt and if fixed, children can will not have the idea that all that white men

did was great they will not have ideas of racism and sexism ingrained into their minds.
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Race and diversity is something that needs to be addressed in classrooms, all types of

diversity do. Because when they are brought up in free form and not ignored, children can be

exposed to other ideas and beliefs, and can be accepting of them and realize that a persons skin

color or gender does not define their characteristics as a person. Schooling has such an impact on

our life; its what shapes us as individuals from an early age, which shapes how we respond to

other situations throughout our life. Teaching multicultural education is not easy; in fact there is

no formulaic answer on how to address the wide variety of problems because critical

multicultural teaching requires the ability to consider multiple and consistently shifting factors.

(DiAngelo and Sensoy, 2010). As a teacher, especially a white female, who came from a

homogenously white school, it can be difficult to relate to problems that multicultural students

may face. Educators need to remember when being faced with these issues, to never stereotype

and to always be understanding, and open minded, and if that is done schooling can transform

the existing order.

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References

Always. (2014, June 26). #LikeAGirl Commercial. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

Burkholder, Z. (2007). Because Race Cant Be Ignored. Education Week.

Chapman, A. (n.d). Gender Bias in Education Retrieved December 13, 2015, from

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/genderbias.html

DiAngelo and Sensoy. (2010). Why We Cant Just Tell You How to do Critical Multicultural

Education. National Association for Multicultural Education.

End of Common Core? Obama Signs Education Law Rewrite. (2015, December 10).

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-sign-education-law-rewrite-power-shift-

states-n477656

Huerta, G. (2009). Teacher Practice: Understanding the Work. In Educational foundations:

Diverse histories, diverse perspectives. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin.

Kessler, R. (2000). The Soul of Education Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion, and

Character at School. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development.

Klingenmeier, A. (2015, November 23). Personal communication.

Robinson, K. (2010, October 14). Changing Education Paradigms. [Video File].

The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap. (2015). Retrieved December 13, 2015, from

http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
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Pretest:

Education in the United States has had its flaws throughout history, and

will continue to do so, due to everyones different ideal image. Throughout

history, education was focused on teaching children how to survive and be

financially supportive. Today, a broad range of subjects is taught, so

students can be exposed to different materials to help them for college

and/or a career. A majority of the education system however is focused on

one way of teaching and testing. Schooling should increase the knowledge of

subject matter, culture, and life to the American youth to help prepare them

for success. It should allow students to comprehend what has already been

discovered, and give them tools to discover the unknown. As the world has

continued to advance, we focus more on competing technologically with

other countries. School is not just a place where children gain knowledge of

what is taught inside the classroom though. They learn about respect, self-

discipline, how to handle relationships with friends, their superiors, and their

peers, and they learn about who they are as a person.

The purpose should be to continue to educate students, but doing so by

connecting with all students in an accepting environment. As a future

teacher, my biggest responsibility, but also most difficult challenge will be to

connect with my students. That will take creativity and persistence, but with

both, the students will feel more involved. Even applying Gardners multiple

intelligences and explaining concepts in more than one way, students

become connected and engage more in what is being taught.

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Throughout history, some of the nations views on existing order topics

have changed, but they have not completely disappeared. There are still

quite a few problems with cultural, political, social, economic, and

environmental order. These differences are usually first noticed in the

classroom when other students point them out. Even though laws have been

passed, to make sure that all Americans are treated equally, we still deal

with issues concerning social and cultural order. If children are taught from

an early age that differences should be encouraged and accepted, it can

create a more open-minded society for generations to come. Schooling can

transform the existing order by creating a more welcoming environment

towards diversity and by offering programs to help. Another issue that is

addressed on a daily basis is economic order, which has received attention

and programs have been implemented to allow students to pursue an

education with minimal costs. Before and after school care as well as free

and reduced breakfast and lunches have allowed students to not worry about

where their next meal is coming from and to help parents if they cant be

there to pick there child up immediately after school due to work. The more

educated students are on national and global issues can give them

motivation to help resolve them. Schools do so by offering and making

science and government classes mandatory. The education system should

implement more classes on current world problems to makes students more

aware than they already are.

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The education system has come a long way over the past few centuries;

adjustments have been made to help students succeed in the best way

possible, but there is still room for improvements. When children are all

given the same opportunities at school, and teachers try to connect in

multiple ways with their students, it inspires them. That inspiration can

ultimately allow them to pursue their education and help improve the

existing order.